Ford Escort RS2000: PH Heroes

The less exotic fast old Escort, but a hugely charismatic one nonetheless

Don your flameproof suits, because this will be controversial choice for some of our more committed Blue Oval fans. But if there's one thing guaranteed to warm PH's collective cockles, it's a performance car for the masses. And that's why we've brought you an RS2000 where you might have been expecting an RS1800.

Looks rather fun...

So let's get this out of the way early. The RS1800 is without doubt the purest and most extreme Ford Escort Mk2. Powered by the same hand-built Cosworth BDA (Belt-Driven type A, based on the old Kent) as the Mk1 RS1800, it's a truly legendary car. But there's a big problem: only a little over 100 were ever built*.

Most of those were race cars, many were crashed and most of the decent ones have long ago been sold into a lifetime of polythene bags and dehumidifiers.

What we're saying is; if you want to enjoy a bit of late '70s oversteer, and don't have a winning lottery ticket to hand, the Mk2 RS1800 might just be a bit of a stretch. Sure, it housed a high-revving, Cosworth Belt-Driven Type A motor, but that's no good if you can't buy one or even drive one.

And that's why we've plumped for the RS2000 as a PH Hero. Yes, it might lack the credibility and glimpse-into-the-future tech of a 16-valve motor but at least you can still buy one for less than a new Focus RS. For now.

Driving experience certainly not complex!

Turn back time
And let's check the stats. That 2.0-litre Pinto puts out 110hp where a stock BDA musters 115hp. The dry weights are 941kg for the RS2000 versus 915kg for the RS1800. Not a million miles out, neither in performance nor in experience.

Slide into the soft Recaros and it's like taking a step back in time. Those 'fishnet' headrests, the big 'CUSTOM' badge in the dash, and that super-solid black leather steering wheel. This is pure 20th century working man's chic. It's the car you wish your dad had bought.

Pull the choke lever, turn the key, and this particular example barks into an excitedly enthusiastic fast idle. The only non-standard part of Chris Hoey's 1979 RS2000 is a period K&N air filter stuck on to the top of the OEM Weber 32/36mm twin venturi carb.

"Dual 40mm Webers, or even 45mms, were an option," he admits. "But as far as I can tell, the car has been standard all of its life and I'm trying to keep it that way. I'm looking for an original airbox."

The steadying rumble and rasp from the exhaust suggest it's time to push the choke back in a little and go for a drive. Excitement and enthusiasm abounds inside the cockpit. This particular example isn't just rust-free and shiny, it's also had more than its original purchase price spent on servicing in the last year alone. Driving it on the roads of 2015 seems like time travel, or witchcraft.

No mistaking it for anything else

Hang on tight
So you might rightfully imagine that a car such as this would be as 'pure' a PH experience as you could hope for. And in many ways it undoubtedly is. But the unassisted steering is hardly a bastion of feel and feedback. Grip that remarkably well-made wheel, and point the Escort down a bumpy back road and hang on tight, but not too tight.

The simple chassis of the Escort, with its leaf-sprung, solid rear axle, is utterly unsophisticated. A 60mph sweeper with a bump in the middle is enough of a shock to induce a number of oscillations in everything from the car to your own rear dump valve.

The front wheel hits, the wheel dances merrily. Then fractions later, the rear axle hits and the whole car shimmies a few inches while you, the pilot of this merrily haphazard vessel, adopt a fixed grin and tell yourself something along the lines of: "They don't make 'em like they used to!" Well, of course not. Or we'd all be dead. And happy about it too.

And that's the wonderful dichotomy of driving any classic car in a world of 200hp Fiesta STs, 450hp BMW M4s and 670hp Ferrari 488s. It's easy to poke holes in the newest cars, and declare that they've lost 'it' over previous generations. But it's often hard to put a quantifiable measurement on what 'it' is.

Whatever that X-factor is, the Escort RS2000 definitely possesses bags of it.

90hp less than a Fiesta ST...

Legal high
In fact, there's a temptation to offer a direct comparison to an E30 M3 or maybe a first-generation MX-5. But even those two differing examples of simple RWD fun can't quite match the wobbly hilarities and irresponsible sense of danger of pedalling this Escort hard down a country lane. They're both better, and they're both much faster too. Because legal speeds in the RS2000 become a target, rather than a limitation.

You know you've found the right roads for the Escort when you can start to stir that 4-speed gearbox a bit. Revving out all the way to 6,000rpm is no problem for the RS, though it's best up to around 5,500rpm, truth be told.

Zooming out of 30mph limits, hedges brushing door handles. That's the Escorts forte, along with turning any boring suburban errand into a test of driver skill and nerve. You see owning, or just briefly driving, a classic sports car like this Escort doesn't take anything away from your modern stuff, but it does bring it all into focus a little.

"I've got a VW Golf R as my everyday car," points out Chris. "And it makes utter mincemeat of the Escort in every way possible. It's an amazing study in just how far cars have come, but I don't love either one of them any less after driving the other."

So forgive us for not choosing the unarguably superior twin-cam RS1800, but we think the whole point of fast Fords is to get out there and drive it. And with an RS2000, you can. For now.

FORD ESCORT RS2000
Engine: 1,993cc four-cyl
Transmission: 4-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 110hp@5,500rpm
Torque (lb ft): 119@4,000rpm
0-62mph: 8.6 seconds
Top speed: 109mph
MPG: Yes
CO2: Probably a lot
Price: £2,857 new (anywhere between £10K and £30K now)